A person may grab a bath safety rail when stepping into and out of a bathtub or while changing positions while in the bathtub. A person may grab a bath safety rail when toweling off and while standing on a wet floor outside of a bathtub or shower area.
A bath safety rail may be fixed at a number of locations, such as on a bathtub or a wall of a shower area. At these locations, a bath safety rail may be fixed horizontally or vertically or at an angle.
A bath safety rail may be a permanent part of the fixtures in a bathroom or a removable tool that can be engaged to and disengaged from smooth surfaces of the bathroom. A bath safety rail, if removable, may be placed at a desired position where it remains for days, weeks or months or may be placed at a first position prior to stepping into the bathtub, at a second position during the bath, and at a third position prior to getting out of the bathtub.
A bath safety rail, if removable, may be operated by an adult or a child, either of whom may have strong fingers or hands. A bath safety rail, if removable, often is not operable by a rather weak elderly person having arthritis.
A cam may be a rotating or sliding piece. A cam may be an eccentric wheel or a cylinder with an irregular shape, and employed in a mechanical linkage where, for example, rotary motion is desired to be transformed into linear motion (or linear motion is desired to be transformed into rotary motion).
A cam may be a machine component that either rotates or reciprocates (moves back and forth) to create a prescribed motion in a contacting element (the follower). Since the shape of the contacting surface of the cam is determined by the prescribed motion and the profile of the follower, cams take various forms. Cam-follower mechanisms are particularly useful when a simple motion of one part of a machine is to be converted to a more complicated prescribed motion of another part, one that must be accurately timed with respect to the simple motion and may include periods of rest (dwells).